World History vs Western Civ

[Miss Tick]

I'm trying to decide what to do for history next year. We will definitely focus on the Early Modern/Modern time period, 1500 to modern times. I'm trying to decide between either "U.S. History in a World Context" using Way of the World volume 2 as a spine OR "U.S. History in the Context of Western Civilization" (is that redundant?) using Spielvogel's  Western Civilization volume 2.

World history, by its nature, seems more complete and well-rounded, but the geographical scope means it is a pretty general overview. Way of the World is less interesting to me than the other book, which doesn't help my enthusiasm.

Focusing on Western Civilization seems like it leaves out so much! but it leaves room for more details. I like the book layout better, too.

I would characterize my two students as history "enjoyers" (thank you SWB), but not history lovers.

 

I would love to get out of my head and hear other people's thoughts.

[madteaparty]

Does Spielvogel have US history in that book? I’m not familiar with either resource you list but I thought Western Civ part two was basically “European history since 1500” aka AP Euro. So anyway, I can’t chime in except that AP US history seems about a thousand times easier than AP Euro. We did them backwards, as one does. 

[Miss Tick]

The US comes up - revolution, slavery, the world wars, but it isn't a main focus. So I guess I shouldn't ask if that title would be redundant, more like would it sound like too much of a stretch. I guess I added that while perusing the latter half of the book.

What other history classes has your ds done? Do you have an idea for what he will do next year?

[cintinative]

Next year we are doing Early Modern using History of Western Society and primary sources. This particular kid has already covered modern history, including American history.  I think I called that course American History in a World Context, but since I have yet to send our transcript to anyone, I am not sure how helpful I am! 

I can share the primary sources we are thinking of covering.  The best laid plans and all that . . .  😃  

Basically I am trying to align the history with the lit class I intend him to take.

For my youngest, he will be covering History of Western Society (volume 1 and 2) over three years, so he will cover less primary sources, and the way I will name the courses will change.

This might be ignorant, but is it really incorrect to call it U.S. History in a World Context if you are doing Western Civilization?  

[Miss Tick]

3 minutes ago, cintinative said:

This might be ignorant, but is it really incorrect to call it U.S. History in a World Context if you are doing Western Civilization?  

Nope, totally legit question! What I was thinking in that case was using the Western Civilization book that I like and adding enough additional material at appropriate places to make me confident in the class name. My post probably sounded a bit wishy-washy because I suddenly started to wonder if the US is considered part of Western Civilization. I mean Western, yes. Civilised, perhaps, but maybe too young.

 

We have done a couple of passes through American history over the years, so they have some background. I am not excited about devoting a year to "American History" and would rather find it into a class with wider scope. I was all set to make it a works history class, but now I find I am more interested in the Western Civilization text. That makes for such a white focus on history, though, that despite its traditional inclusion in course catalogs I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that choice either. 

History is supposed to be an enjoyable, almost casual, learning experience in this house. We will have finished all three of SWB's History in the _____ World books and I'm looking for a solid bridge from the Renaissance to modern times next year. That would leave room senior year to focus on Current Events for perhaps a half-credit worth of time over the year.

Didn't Farrar have some non-european history classes she put together?  Maybe she has something that would check my boxes....

[cintinative]

9 minutes ago, SusanC said:

 

Didn't Farrar have some non-european history classes she put together?  Maybe she has something that would check my boxes....

This is a link to @Farrar 's classes  https://simplify4you.com/gps/

With my oldest, I had him do modern world history his 8th grade year (Human Odyssey 3 and a bunch of OUP Pages from History books), and then I supplemented it with U.S. history from the Civil War to the start of his modern history, and I am transcripting it for 9th because he finished it in the late summer before 9th.  It's not ideal, but neither is changing your plan several times.  LOL. 

For my youngest we are covering the following time periods:  Year 1: Ancients through High Middle Ages; Year 2: Late Middle Ages/Reformation//U.S. History in World Context to 1776; Year 3: Industrial Revolution to the Current Era/U.S. History in World Context.  Again, since we haven't even started, I reserve the right to completely mess it up or change it. LOL.  

My oldest is doing Medieval this year and we did our spine text and are on book 2 of the primary sources, so I am just going to see how it goes and work from there. 

I hope you figure out a plan that works for you!

 

[EKS]

Any choice that involves using Ways of the World is the choice you should make.  It is truly an excellent text.

Aside from that, as you get closer and closer to the present, the more global things become.

Also, if you haven't used Ways of the World before, I highly recommend doing a quick read through the first chapters.  The second half of the book won't be as good without that foundation.

[Miss Tick]

10 minutes ago, EKS said:

Any choice that involves using Ways of the World is the choice you should make.  It is truly an excellent text.

Aside from that, as you get closer and closer to the present, the more global things become.

Also, if you haven't used Ways of the World before, I highly recommend doing a quick read through the first chapters.  The second half of the book won't be as good without that foundation.

Looking at my notes, it was your recommendation that out Ways of the World vol 2 on my list originally. 🙂👍🏼 This is the kind of enthusiastic endorsement that I probably need.

I think your student(s?) has graduated, would you mind sharing their history progression? 

 

 

[EKS]

12 minutes ago, SusanC said:

I think your student(s?) has graduated, would you mind sharing their history progression?

They were both weird.

Older son: 

• Homegrown world history (American included) from grades 3-6
• A failed attempt at Spielvogel's Human Odyssey (which I thought was truly awful) in 7th
• Something approximating human geography in 8th (along with K12's Human Odyssey informally)
• The American Odyssey (from K12) as well as the history of science in 9th
• Ways of the World, the entire thing, in the first semester of 10th because we suddenly decided to enroll him in school in the second semester.  

Younger son:

• K12's History K in kindergarten
• SOTW 1 and 2 in 1st and 2nd
• K12's History 3 and 4 in 3rd
• A History of US (concise) in 4th
• The Human Odyssey (K12) as a bedtime story in 5th and 6th (he was enrolled in a private school during this time, and during the second year he took an excellent 8th grade civics class)
• The American Odyssey in 7th
• Human Odyssey volume 3 and the first six chapters of Ways of the World in 8th
• A study of the Middle East in 9th (public school)
• World history 1800-1918 (public school), history and social implications of innovation and technology (at home) in 10th
• Human and cultural geography as well as the history, philosophy, and practice of science (both at home) in 11th
• Ways of the World (all of it) with additional focus on how science and math can inform historical study (at home) in 12th

[elegantlion]

I remember Ways of the World text being recommended here years ago when ds was in high school. We never used it, but I bought an older edition vol 1 and enjoyed reading some of it for myself. 

As to the World or West Civ, it could be a matter of preference. At the higher ed level, there seems to be a push for more world history rather than Western Civ. Most of the non-US historian jobs I've looked at in the past year want someone to teach World History surveys, not Western Civ. 

If you're concerned about having enough time to add in the US coverage, you could shorten your time frame to the Modern or Early Modern. 

[Miss Tick]

52 minutes ago, elegantlion said:

As to the World or West Civ, it could be a matter of preference. At the higher ed level, there seems to be a push for more world history rather than Western Civ. Most of the non-US historian jobs I've looked at in the past year want someone to teach World History surveys, not Western Civ. 
 

This is particularly interesting, thank you for mentioning it.